Vertically adjustable centrifugal pump for use in manholes

ABSTRACT

A portable centrifugal pump for use in vertically extending cavities such as a manhole. A centrifugal pump having a force feed blade assembly is located in the cavity and empties into a discharge duct extending upward out of the cavity. A drive shaft extends downward from a gear box located above the cavity and drives the pump. The gear box is adjustable to accommodate horizontally extending power shafts at varying heights. The pump may be adjustably positioned at varying depths through the use of a vertically adjustable transverse support member which mounts the centrifugal pump in the cavity and is supported by a depending framework from the bottom of the cavity.

United States Patent [191 Crisafulli [451March 20, 1973 [76] Inventor: Angelo J. Crisafulli, P O. Box 1051,

Glendive, Mont. 59330 [22] Filed: Feb. 18, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 116,498

UNITED STATES PATENTS 829,017 8/1906 Jordan ..415/122 2,304,849 12/1942 Ruthman ..417/424 2,698,583 1/1955 House et al ..417/424 3,371,614 3/l968 Crisafulli ..415/98 3,456,592 7/1969 Nelsen ..415/121 B FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 448,467 3/1949 ltaly ..415/98 693,068 10/1930 France 417/424 799,0l3 7/l958 Great Britain.. 415/143 970,265 v9/1958 Germany 415/143 800,808 l2/l950 Germany..... 417/424 1,806,195 7/1970 Germany ..415/143 Primary Examiner-Henry F. Raduazo Attorney-Clarence A. OBrien and Harvey B. Jacobson [57] ABSTRACT A portable centrifugal pump for use in vertically extending cavities such as a manhole. A centrifugal pump having a force feed blade assembly is located in the cavity and empties into a discharge duct extending upward out of the cavity. A drive shaft extends downward from a gear box located above the cavity and drives the pump. The gear box is adjustable to accommodate horizontally extending power shafts at varying heights. The pump may be adjustably positioned at varying depths through the use of a vertically adjustable transverse support member which mounts the centrifugal pump in the cavity and is supported by a depending framework from the bottom of the cavity.

l0 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE CENTRIFUGAL PUMP FOR USE IN MANHOLES This invention relates to a portable centrifugal pump such as shown in prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,371,614 used in a vertically extending cavity.

Heretofore, portable pumps have frequently been used for liquid pumping operations where it is convenient to use as a power source a power take-off from a farm tractor or other similarly equipped vehicle. Not infrequently this power take-off takes the form of a shaft rotating about a horizontal axis. ln suction pumps where the pumping mechanism is located above the surface of the cavity, there is seldom a problem of power transmission since the pumping mechanism may be positioned to accommodate the horizontal or downwardly angled power take-off shaft. A disadvantage of such pumps, however, is that they require the utilization of suction piping extending down into the cavity, suction foot valves, or the like in order to convey the liquid to be pumped to the pump suction inlet. A considerable amount of time is therefore required to set up suction piping and to prime suction pumps of this type. This expenditure of time occurs during the initial stages of the pumping operation when speed of operation is most important.

An alternative type of portable pump is submersible pumps that are mechanically driven by a vertically extending shaft. These pumps have invariably been inflexible for operation with varying cavity depth, varying liquid level in the cavity and varying height of a horizontal power take-off. The improvements of the present invention have been introduced to render submersible mechanical driven pumps more flexible and to facilitate their initial set up. The submersible pump of this invention is readily adaptable for use in pumping liquid from wells, manholes, and a variety of other vertically extending cavities.

It is an object of this invention to provide a submersible mechanically driven pump which is readily adaptable for use with power take-off shafts from farm tractors or other similarly equipped vehicles where the power shafts rotate about horizontal axes at varying heights above a surface into which a vertically oriented cavity extends. According to this invention, a gear box for changing rotary motion about a horizontal axis to rotary motion about a vertical axis is positionable at selected and varying distances above the brim of the cavity.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a portable centrifugal pump, including a submersible mechanically driven pump means, with `a means for adjusting the depth at which the pump means is located. This provides the pump with increased flexibility for use in cavities of varying depths and in water levels of varying depths. Thus, there is vno tendency for the pump means to be forced to the bottom of a cavity and -possibly damaged in the process, nor is there a tendency for the pump means to be carried too high and become air locked after a relatively short period of operation.

Still further objects of the preferred embodiments of the invention include the provision of a guard member for the protection of the pump means from debris at the bottom of cavities to be pumped, and the provision of bearings for an impeller longitudinally displaced from the pump casing. By incorporating this latter feature, neither wear rings nor impeller rings are required, and the pump may thereby be produced more economically and operated with fewer maintenance problems arising.

In a broad aspect, this invention is a submersible portable centrifugal pump for use in vertically extending cavities comprising a vertically extending discharge duct having upper and lower ends, a rotary centrifugal pump means carried by and discharging into the lower end of said discharge duct, a vertically extending drive shaft means having upper and lower portions driving said pump means and supported at said lower portion by and rotatably journaled in spaced relation to said discharge duct, a transverse support member fastened to said discharge duct and extending laterally in opposing directions therefrom, and a transmission gear box means for changing rotary motion about a horizontal axis to rotary motion about a vertical axis operatively connected to the upper portion of said drive shaft means and longitudinally positionable with respect to the lower portion of said drive shaft means, whereby said transverse support member is positionable to span the walls of a cavity and support said pump means which is suspended therefrom, and said gear box means is positionable at varying distances above said transverse support member to accommodate horizontally extending power shafts at varying heights. A force feed blade assembly facilitates input of water into the pump means.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construe-tion and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pump according to this invention positioned in a cavity.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the pump of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view of a modified drive shaft for the pump.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a modified force feed blade assembly.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown a portable centrifugal pump indicated generally at 10 positioned in a vertically extending cavity l2. The pump l0 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,371,614 issued Mar. 5, 1968 which is incorporated herein by reference with pump l0 being disposed with the axis thereof vertically disposed and including a vertically extending discharge duct 14 having an upper end 16 and a lower end 18. The pump l0 is comprised of a dual suction intake port pump casing 22 provided with vertically aligned and axially opposed intake ports 24 and 26, and a tangential discharge port 28 in communication with the lower end 18 of the discharge duct 14 with the pump being immersed in water 30. A pair of vertically aligned bearings 32 and 34 are longitudinally displaced from and attached to the pump casing 22 by bearing support members 36. The provision of longitudinally disposed bearings 32 and 34 obviates the need for wear rings in the casing 22 about the impeller therein, and

the bearing support members 36 serve as baffles to reduce a vortex formation of the liquid being pumped.

The impeller of the pump l is mounted on a vertical shaft 38 which may be driven by an electric motor, internal combustion engine or the like and is supported in bearings 32 and 34 as disclosed in prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,371,614. Mounted on a collar 39 on shaft 38 is a plurality of impeller blades 40 of generally arcuate configuration which radiate from and are rigid with the collar 39 on shaft 38. The lower end of the blades are interconnected by ring 4l rigid with shaft 38 by a spider type supporting assembly. An alternative arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5, has an impeller 42 in the form of a single helical screw blade 44 mounted on shaft 38. As illustrated, the diameter of blade 44 increases axially downwardly from the upper end of the shaft 38. The blades 40 also increase in diameter and both embodiments form an emulsifier and force feed screw which can also be used on the bottom of the pump if desired to facilitate entry of water into the inlet openings.

A drive shaft means 46 is spaced from and parallel to the discharge duct 14. Drive shaft means 46 has an upper portion 50 and a lower portion 48. The lower portion 48 is connected to and forms a continuation of the impeller 30 and thereby drives the pump means 10. Drive shaft means 46 is supported at its lower portion 48 by a bearing bracket 52, which surrounds the lower portion 48 and supports the annular collar 54 extending radially outward from the upper end of lower portion 48. Bearing bracket 52 is bolted to a mounting plate 56 which is welded to or otherwise secured to discharge duct 14. Mounting plate 56 is elongated with supports S8 at the ends thereof welded to discharge duct 14 and plate 56 extends in longitudinal alignment with discharge duct 14. A transverse support member 62 is fastened to the discharge duct 14 by means of the plate 56. Support member 62 extends laterally in opposite directions from discharge duct 14 and thereby supports the entire portable pump in the cavity l2. The ends of support member 62 spans the walls of cavity 12, and the pump l0 is thereby suspended at the same depth in any cavity in which the pump is positioned. As illustrated the transverse support member 62 is adjustably fastened to plate 56 by bolts or fasteners 68, which serve as releasable support member fastening means and fasten the transverse support member 62 to selected fastening points or holes 66 in plate 56. It can be seen that the transverse support member 62 is thereby adjustably positionable along the length of discharge duct 14 and the pump l0 is thereby positionable at varying depths in the cavity. Moreover, if a deep cavity is encountered, fasteners 68 may be passed through support member 62 into an upper pair of tapped holes 66 and pump l0 will be suspended lower. Conversely, to raise pump 10 for use in a shallow cavity, fasteners 68 are secured through support member 62 in a lower pair of holes 66. The flexibility of the pump l0 is thereby increased for use in cavities of varying depths.

A gear box 70 is also adjustably positionable at varying distances along support plate 56 by suitable fasteners extending through holes 66 which enables the gear box to accommodate horizontally extending power shafts 72 at varying heights. Transmission gear box 70 is a device for changing rotary motion about a horizontal axis to rotary motion about a vertical axis. This is achieved using gears placed at right angles to each other as is well known in the field of mechanical power transmission. Horizontal shaft 72 represents the driving shaft of a power take-off from a tractor or other similarly equipped vehicle. Power is transmitted from shaft 72 through gear box 70 to the upper portion 50 of drive shaft means 46, which is operatively connected to the pump l0, as illustrated. In FIG. l, the upper portion 50 of the drive shaft means 46 is comprised of a shaft member 74 and a sleeve member 76 mounted in telescopic relation to shaft member 74. The shaft member 74 and the sleeve member 76 are keyed to each other or of corresponding polygonal shape to rotate together and are longitudinally adjustable with respect to each other. The gear box means is thereby longitudinally positionable with respect to the lower portion 48 ofthe drive shaft means 46.

Gear box 70 may also be adjustable positionable with respect to the lower portion 48 of the drive shaft means 46 by the modified construction of FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the upper portion 78 of the drive shaft means is a shaft member having a non-circular cross-section. Upper portion 78 has a square cross-section, though a variety of other cross-sectional configurations would work equally as well. For example, the cross-section of the upper portion could be generally circular but with a longitudinal keyway milled along the length of the upper portions. Whatever the form of the non-circular cross-section of the upper portion of the drive shaft means, the gear box 70 has a horizontally disposed driven gear wherein is defined a centrally located aperture of a cross-section conforming to the cross-section of the shaft member 78. The driven gear is axially positioned about the shaft member 78 and longitudinally slidably receives shaft member 78 in a well known manner. The gear box 70 thereby drives the shaft member 78 and is longitudinally positionable along the upper portion of the drive shaft means above the transverse support member 62.

In the embodiments described, the various portions of the drive shaft means may be connected together by U-joints 80 to compensate for minor misalign'ment of the working parts of the portable pump of this invention. In addition, a grease fitting tube 82 may extend from the bearings to the surface above the cavity in order to provide proper lubrication, as in FIG. 4.

Also, the lower ends of the spiral blades 40 may be rigidified and supported by a connecting ring and radial arms extending to a collar rigid with shaft 38. A similar reinforcement may be provided on the lower end of blade 44.

As a further refinement of this invention, a guard member 84 is attached to and is at least as wide as the pump l0. Guard member 84 is U-shaped and extends longitudinally downward beyond the pump l0 to protect the pump from debris in the cavity 12 by assuring that the pump will be spaced above the bottom of the cavity. Also, the pump l0 may be driven by any suitable internal combustion engine such as a stationary engine drivingly connected to the drive shaft in any suitable manner. An electric motor of appropriate horsepower may also be used to drive the pump at the desired speed for efficient operation.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

ll. A portable centrifugal pump for use in vertically extending cavities comprising a vertically extending discharge duct having upper and lower ends, a submersible rotary centrifugal pump discharging into the lower end of said discharge duct, a vertically extending drive shaft means having upper and lower portions driving said pump and supported at said lower portion by and rotatably journaled in spaced parallel relation to said discharge duct, a transverse support member fastened to said discharged duct and extending laterally in opposite directions therefrom, and a transmission gear box means for changing rotary motion about a horizontal axis to rotary motion about a vertical axis operatively connected to the upper portion of said drive shaft means and longitudinally adjustably positionable with respect to the lower portion of said drive shaft means, whereby said transverse support member is positionable to span the walls of a ca'vity and support said pump which is suspended therefrom, and said gear box means is positionable at varying distances above said transverse support member to accommodate horizontally extending power shafts at varying heights.

2. The portable centrifugal pump of claim l wherein said upper portion of said drive shaft means is further comprised of a shaft member and a sleeve member in telescopic relation to said shaft member, said shaft member and said sleeve member being keyed to each other to rotate together and being longitudinally adjustable with respect to each other.

3. The portable centrifugal pump of claim l wherein a mounting means having spaced fastening points is interposed between said transverse support member and said discharge duct and is longitudinally aligned with and secured to said discharge duct, and releasable fasteningV means fastening said transverse support member to selected fastening points, whereby said transverse support member is adjustably positionable along the length of said discharge duct and said pump is thereby positionable at varying depths in a cavity.

4. The portable centrifugal pump of claim ll wherein a mounting means having spaced fastening points is interposed between said gear box means and said discharge duct and is longitudinally aligned with and secured to said discharge duct, and releasable gear box fastening means fastening said gear box to selected fastening points, whereby said gear box means is adjustably positionable in secured relation along the length of said discharge duct above said transverse support member.

5. The portable centrifugal pump of claim ii wherein said upper portion of said drive shaft means is further comprised of a shaft member having a non-circular cross-section and said gear box means has a horizontally disposed driven gear wherein is defined a centrally located aperture of a cross-section conforming to the cross-section of said shaft member and said driven gear is axially positioned about said shaft member and is longitudinally slidable with respect to said shaft member,

whereby said gear box means drives said shaft member and is longitudinally positionable along said upper por- 5 tion of said drive shaft means above said transverse support member.

6. The portable centrifugal pump of claim ll wherein said pump further comprises a dual suction intake port pump casing provided with vertically aligned and axially opposed intake ports and a tangential discharge port in communication with said discharge duct, and feed means vertically aligned and rotatably mounted in bearings longitudinally displaced from and attached to said pump casing, said feed means including a central vertical shaft and a plurality of impeller blades of generally arcuate configuration radiating from said shaft downwardly from adjacent the upper bearing for said shaft.

7. The portable centrifugal pump of claim l wherein said pump further comprises a dual suction intake port pump casing provided with vertically aligned and axially opposed intake ports and a tangential discharge port in communication with said discharge duct, and feed means vertically aligned and rotatably mounted in bearings longitudinally displaced from and attached to said pump casing, said feed means including a central vertical shaft having upper and lower ends and a single blade in the shape of a helical screw mounted on said central shaft and increasing in diameter axially downwardly from adjacent the upper bearing for said shaft.

d. The portable centrifugal pump of claim i further comprising a guard member attached to and at least as wide as said pump and extending longitudinally downward beyond said pump.

9. ln combination with a centrifugal pump immersed in liquid to be pumped and including a casing having a rotatable impeller therein, a shaft driving the impeller disposed within the casing, said casing having a centrally located inlet through which the shaft extends, said casing including a peripheral outlet having a vertically extending discharge duct connected rigidly therewith, feed means oriented axially in alignment with the inlet and adjacent thereto, said feed means being mounted on the shaft and driven thereby to feed liquid into the inlet to facilitate pumping thereof by the impeller, means attached to said casing for limiting the movement of the casing into the liquid thereby enabling the pump to be lowered vertically into a manhole or the like until said means engages the bottom thereof thereby assuring that the pump will be spaced from the bottom, adjustable support means suspending said pump from a support above the surface of the liquid to be pumped, said support means including a laterally extending support member vertically adjustably connected with said discharge duct for engagement with a manhole or the like for adjustably suspending the pump from the upper end portion of the manhole, said shaft being disposed in generally parallel relation to the discharge duct and journaled therefrom, said shaft including means varying the driving length thereof independent of the supported position of the pump.

110. The combination of claim 9 together with a transmission connected with the upper end portion of the shaft, said transmission being adjustably supported from said discharge duct thereby enabling independent vertical adjustment of the transmission with respect to the support member, said support member being disposed below the transmission and extending laterally S from opposite sides of the discharge duct for engagement with the opposed walls of a manhole or the like.

1li 1k 

1. A portable centrifugal pump for use in vertically extending cavities comprising a vertically extending discharge duct having upper and lower ends, a submersible rotary centrifugal pump discharging into the lower end of said discharge duct, a vertically extending drive shaft means having upper and lower portions driving said pump and supported at said lower portion by and rotatably journaled in spaced parallel relation to said discharge duct, a transverse support member fastened to said discharged duct and extending laterally in opposite directions therefrom, and a transmission gear box means for changing rotary motion about a horizontal axis to rotary motion about a vertical axis operatively connected to the upper portion of said drive shaft means and longitudinally adjustably positionable with respect to the lower portion of said drive shaft means, whereby said transverse support member is positionable to span the walls of a cavity and support said pump which is suspended therefrom, and said gear box means is positionable at varying distances above said transverse support member to accommodate horizontally extending power shafts at varying heights.
 2. The portable centrifugal pump of claim 1 wherein said upper portion of said drive shaft means is further comprised of a shaft member and a sleeve member in telescopic relation to said shaft member, said shaft member and said sleeve member being keyed to each other to rotate together and being longitudinally adjustable with respect to each other.
 3. The portable centrifugal pump of claim 1 wherein a mounting means having spaced fastening points is interposed between said transverse support member and said discharge duct and is longitudinally aligned with and secured to said discharge duct, and releasable fastening means fastening said transverse support member to selected fastening points, whereby said transverse support member is adjustably positionable along the length of said discharge duct and said pump is thereby positionable at varying depths in a cavity.
 4. The portable centrifugal pump of claim 1 wherein a mounting means having spaced fastening points is interposed between said gear box means and said discharge duct and is longitudinally aligned with and secured to said discharge duct, and releasable gear box fastening means fastening said gear box to selected fastening points, whereby said gear box means is adjustably positionable in secured relation along the length of said discharge duct above said transverse support member.
 5. The portable centrifugal pump of claim 1 wherein said upper portion of said drive shaft means is further comprised of a shaft member having a non-circular cross-section and said gear box means has a horizontally disposed driven gear wherein is defined a centrally located aperture of a cross-section conforming to the cross-section of said shaft member and said driven gear is axially positioned about said shaft member and is longitudinally slidable with respect to said shaft member, whereby said gear box means drives said shaft member and is longitudinally positionable along said upper portion of said drive shaft means above said transverse support member.
 6. The portable centrifugal pump of claim 1 wherein said pump further comprises a dual suction intake port pump casing provided with vertically aligned and axially opposed intake ports and a tangential discharge port in communication with said discharge duct, and feed means vertically aligned and rotatably mounted in bearings longitudinally displaced from and attached to said pump casing, said feed means including a central vertical shaft and a plurality of impeller blades of generally arcuate configuration radiating from said shaft downwardly from adjacent the upper bearing for said shaft.
 7. The portable centrifugal pump of claim 1 wherein said pump further comprises a dual suction intake port pump casing provided with vertically aligned and axially opposed intake ports and a tangential discharge port in communication with said discharge duct, and feed means vertically aligned and rotatably mounted in bearings longitudinally displaced from and attached to said pump casing, said feed means including a central vertical shaft having upper and lower ends and a single blade in the shape of a helical screw mounted on said central shaft and increasing in diameter axially downwardly from adjacent the upper bearing for said shaft.
 8. The portable centrifugal pump of claim 1 further comprising a guard member attached to and at least as wide as said pump and extending longitudinally downward beyond said pump.
 9. In combination with a centrifugal pump immersed in liquid to be pumped and including a casing having a rotatable impeller therein, a shaft driving the impeller disposed within the casing, said casing having a centrally located inlet tHrough which the shaft extends, said casing including a peripheral outlet having a vertically extending discharge duct connected rigidly therewith, feed means oriented axially in alignment with the inlet and adjacent thereto, said feed means being mounted on the shaft and driven thereby to feed liquid into the inlet to facilitate pumping thereof by the impeller, means attached to said casing for limiting the movement of the casing into the liquid thereby enabling the pump to be lowered vertically into a manhole or the like until said means engages the bottom thereof thereby assuring that the pump will be spaced from the bottom, adjustable support means suspending said pump from a support above the surface of the liquid to be pumped, said support means including a laterally extending support member vertically adjustably connected with said discharge duct for engagement with a manhole or the like for adjustably suspending the pump from the upper end portion of the manhole, said shaft being disposed in generally parallel relation to the discharge duct and journaled therefrom, said shaft including means varying the driving length thereof independent of the supported position of the pump.
 10. The combination of claim 9 together with a transmission connected with the upper end portion of the shaft, said transmission being adjustably supported from said discharge duct thereby enabling independent vertical adjustment of the transmission with respect to the support member, said support member being disposed below the transmission and extending laterally from opposite sides of the discharge duct for engagement with the opposed walls of a manhole or the like. 